The Next Always: Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy, Book 1

I have to start out by saying that I buy Nora Roberts' books on her name alone. I have seldom been disappointed in any of her stories. This was another wonderful, feel-good romance with well-drawn characters and strong, loving families.The Montgomery family is restoring an old inn in Boonsboro. The family consists of a widowed mother and three grown sons. You can easily see that they love and support each other even while the brothers pick at each other and teases. This romance stars Beckett who is the architect in the family but who also doesn't mind turning his hand to any carpentry tasks or other needed tasks in the inn restoration project.The heroine of this story is Clare Brewster. She is back home in Boonsboro with her three young sons after the death of her husband in Iraq. They were childhood sweethearts and had a strong loving marriage. Now that she is home, she has started a bookstore and has made a new life for herself and her sons.Beckett has loved her since she was sixteen but has settled for a friendship until now. This story explores their growing relationship as they learn to adjust and trust each other. It was fun to see Beckett interacting with Clare's three sons and see him fitting himself into their lives. Clare is the one who is most reluctant to be in the relationship at first. After all, she has already had a wonderful relationship and had her heart broken when she lost her husband.I did like that Clare was not a passive heroine. When she decides to commit to the relationship with Beckett, she is the one who puts the moves on him. He wants to take it slow and ease her into the relationship but isn't at all reluctant when Clare wants to move faster.But everything can't go smoothly. Clare has also drawn the attention of a former schoolmate who has developed an unhealthy obsession with her and has begun stalking her. Clare just thinks that he is an annoying person who is really hard to discourage but the stalking episodes quickly escalate.The story also features Beckett's two brothers - Owen and Ryder and Clare's best friends Avery and Hope leading the way for the romances in the next books in this trilogy. What I really like about Roberts' books is that her heroines are real adult women. Clare owns a bookstore; Avery owns and operates a restaurant; and Hope is experienced in running hotels. None of them are looking for a man to make their lives better. They have perfectly good lives already. Nor are her heroes rich men of leisure. They may be comfortably well-off but they are all hard-working.I really enjoyed this story and will certainly be following along with the rest of the Inn Boonsboro Trilogy.

Great as ALWAYS! So happy when I realized towards the end that there are two more books to immensely enjoy!.

First - I cannot believe I missed this trilogy when it was first published. I’ve always gotten Nora Robert’s books first thing! Wow - talk about a great book, great plot, great characters that you fall in love with and actually feel you know them. I loved each and every one of them and I cannot wait to read book two and then book three, 😁!Another home run, Nora!

Nora Roberts knows how to deliver an entertaining story with likable characters, well-developed plot elements in a polished presentation. The Next Always, one of her latest installments, hits the mark on all of these points.The first book in the trilogy, The Next Always begins with the three Montgomery brothers and their mother renovating the Inn BoonsBoro. The youngest, architect Beckett, lives above a pizza parlor and spends most of his days fine tuning his family's vision.He also pines for Clare Brewster, the girl he has loved since high school, but who married another man and moved away. Years later, she is widowed, raising three sons and running Turn the Page, her bookstore.After sparks fly between the two, Beckett finally makes a move. Together, they work through the real issue of how Beckett can fit into Clare and her sons' lives. They deal with their businesses, family and friend interference -- not to mention a stalker.They also have to face the ghosts of their pasts, and one who is knew to them -- a woman who haunts the inn.Set in Nora's hometown BoonsBoro, Md., the inn, bookstore and pizza shop detailed and in the book are real (and owned by Nora or her family members). While some might see this as shameless publicity, I see this as awesome publicity. If I were ever in the area, I would totally want to check out all three.While we have seen some of these plot elements before -- like the inn and ghosts from the MacKade brothers quartet and the ghost from the In the Garden trilogy -- I still enjoyed the book. While I enjoyed reading those other two series, this one reached me a little more because it's told about people within my age range at the time I am that age. That might seem like a silly argument for why I liked it, but it still fits. Though her stories are to a degree timeless, it's nice to see characters who talk the way I talk and deal with things I deal with. I guess you can call it a modernization.What I like best about this book, and any of Nora's books, is that you can consistently count on it having likable characters, a quality story and excellent execution. That never seems old or recycled.

I was really looking forward to reading this Nora Roberts novel, but as I turned each page my disappointment grew and grew. The blurb sounded good and I was intrigued about the inn being haunted, but the endless descriptions of the renovations of the hotel were tedious. If you are interested in interior design and reading about the installation of every fixture, fitting and brushstroke of renovating a building, then I'm sure this would be of great interest. The love angle between Clare and Beckett was fine, although nothing stunning and quite predictable.It is populated with some interesting characters, but all in all, I was relieved to reach the end of the story.I'm so sorry that I can give only two stars for this, but I know that Nora Roberts has a wide fan base and many do enjoy her stories.

This was recommended to me by a friend, who really enjoyed it. However, I am finding it incredibly boring to the point where I am speed reading it, and skipping pages. Very, very padded out with pages and pages of unnecessary detailed descriptions of the hotel renovation, and Clare’s sons’ gaming, illnesses and eating habits. Not for me. Doubt I will finish it and more than likely will not read the following two novels if this one is anything to go by. A story that could have been told in a quarter of the time.

Apart from a single stalker cum villain the sweet romantic ‘The Next Always’ is full of likeable people in a homely atmosphere in a nice community - a refreshing read! It involves a family of 3 handsome sons, Beckett, Ryder and Owen Montgomery, and their energetic and slightly eccentric mother; all together restoring a derelict inn which is tackled as a labour of love. In the same town a bookstore is opened by a young woman, Clare, widowed when her husband was killed in Iraq and left with 3 young boys. Clare has 2 girl friends; a widow Avery running a pizzeria café in the town, and Hope who comes to work for the Montgomery family at the inn after a break up with her husband. So there we have it - 3 eligible young men and 3 available women - and ‘The Next Always’ is publicised as the first of a trilogy!In this first book Beckett engages Clare to produce a brochure for the inn, but he has been attracted to Clare since they were teenagers. Clare is drawn but she is focussed on her children, and her relationship with her boys is heart-warming. The magnetism between Beckett and Clare has awkward moments and it has passion. Narrative gives insights to single mothers struggling for independence and wanting the best for the boys, and also provides insights to the bonds between the Montgomerys who are loyal and interdependent one to another, and have a touching relationship with their mother. Clare, Avery and Hope are also mutually supportive of one another.So much for relationships in which there is a large slice of inevitability. ‘The Next Always’ is told as a slow story that is pleasing and gratifying, but it resembles a step by step case-study of project management in renovating and refurbishing a historic building. At the end of the book the inn project is not complete - so look out for relationships between Ryder, Owen, Avery and Hope! Oh - and there’s a ghost - so readers need to look out for further connections. ‘The Next Always’ is a light-hearted read in itself - and the labour of love promises more to come.

To be honest I was surprised by how bad this was (sorry Nora, you've written decently in the past). Clunky and superficial description of people - the hotel had more personality than them, though we found out what they wore, hair, eye colour etc. Difficult to care for such contrived mannequins. But really, it was the page after page of decorating and construction details - WHY? Perhaps it was an attempt to attract male readers? It was incomprehensible, and we literally felt like we were watching paint dry.I always try to find something about a book I like too, and I suppose this was cosy, middle town America that we all know and love, but that's it.Unrealistic, 2 dimensional people, endless DIY information. Perhaps somewhere after the pages and pages of boring details there was a plot, maybe a bit of adventure, but sadly I had to concede and bin this.Now I hear this is an actual hotel, so it all seems like a cynical way to plug that. I should have realised.

I received a copy of The Next Always free from Amazon in return for having purchased a Kindle ebook during a promotional period.I don't often pick up romance novels so I believe that The Next Always is the first Nora Roberts novel I've read. It's certainly the first in a very long time and likely to be the last too. I was disappointed at just how bland and formulaic the story was. Essentially just a long advertisement for the Boonsboro Inn - is Roberts an owner? - most of the book is taken up with lists of the luxurious furniture and fittings. We also meet a perfectly nice widow, Clare, who has nice children and falls in love with the nice man, Beckett, doing up the Inn. Surrounded by their nice friends and community, they overcome minor perils and, presumably, go on to live happily ever after as a Family.Based on this one novel, I have no idea how Roberts sells so many thousands of books. I have read far more inventive fare from relatively unknown indie authors who could seriously benefit from 1% of her publicity, yet are ignored in favour of this drivel. Yawn.